


Evening Prayers

by hypothetical_chainsaw



Category: Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (TV 2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, alludes to caligari, mentions of trauma, worship kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:20:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24943747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hypothetical_chainsaw/pseuds/hypothetical_chainsaw
Summary: Zelda's powers are ebbing, the pagans are at their doorstep, they have angered Lucifer and her husband's free. She seeks a distraction from the troubles that lie ahead. Lilith answers her prayers but nothing's the same as it was. Set mid Part 3. Canon divergence.
Relationships: Zelda Spellman/Mary Wardwell | Madam Satan | Lilith
Comments: 5
Kudos: 40





	Evening Prayers

**Author's Note:**

> My first CAOS fic. Assumes Zelda and Lilith were sleeping together before she married Blackwood.

The remains of embers crackled in the fireplace, the glow doing little to light the room now. Zelda hadn’t moved from her armchair since lighting the fire a little over 3 hours ago, whiskey decanter and a steady supply of cigarettes at her side. To be alone in the house had seemed alien now. Until recently Hilda hadn’t been one for leaving often, having taken well to being a homebody since Sabrina’s arrival 16 years prior, and she’d grown used to the continuous drone of Ambrose’s music from the floors above.

She needed tonight without them. For as much as she’d grown used to their presence, she’d lost something greater that day; her oldest companion. Her magic.

The ever present electricity pricking her skin’s surface had ebbed to nothing shortly after her morning coffee. The physical blow of it had sent her cup clattering to its saucer as her connection with the powers of hell was severed abruptly. At the concern on her sister's face, Zelda had made her excuses before sequestering herself to her office in search of a solution; focus deep in ancient tomes. They had revealed nothing of use.

After doing her best to fortify the academy for the night, she had charged her nephew with it’s protection and returned home to the familiar comfort of an armchair that had seen her through two centuries of her life. It matched her sisters but for the time-worn cushioning’s moulding to her form and the small divots in the front left leg from years of Vinegar Tom’s gnawing.

She supped from her tumbler, nostrils flaring at the slight burn. To be melancholic with liquor was a far more agreeable state than gripped in fear.

“Hail Lilith, full of disgrace,” Her voice was hoarse, hardly more than a whisper as unshed tears stuck in her throat.

A deep drag from her cigarette helped to steady her and she pushed her way through the rest of the prayer as a monotone utterance. A shaky breath rounded out her reverent, “Praise Madam Satan,” before she set her glass down, eyes suddenly downcast as strained words ghosted across her lips, “Lilith, _please_.”

Zelda did not make a habit of pleading and the words felt foreign in her mouth. She didn’t care; she needed this, needed to see her one last time.

Bar nightly prayers, they hadn’t spoken since the doors of Hell had closed behind her - since discovering that the woman she had been bed fellows with was more than just any witch.

Lilith’s comfort was not in her care; as Mary she had always displayed a superficial care that only truly made sense now, in the context of her demonic nature. No, it was the way she ensnared all thoughts, detracting from the string of harrowing situations that had befallen the Spellmans, that would grant Zelda a temporary reprieve from their fate. If she was to die at the hands of the Pagans, Satan knew she needed that - _Lilith_ knew she needed that.

A cool rush of air pushed through from the entryway, followed by the distinctive beat of stilettos against hardwood. A shiver shot up her spin. _She had heard_.

“Found myself awfully quiet this evening,” She rested a hand against the doorframe, leaning her weight on it, “Haven’t heard a peep out of your niece all day in fact. So it seems I have time,” Lilith paused for a beat, drumming her fingers slowly against the oak, “ _to answer your prayers_.”

“ _Hail Lilith_.” Zelda intoned gratefully on a weighty exhale.

The words sound not only in Lilith’s ears, but in her mind too and she strengthened her grip on the wood beneath her fingers. “You’ve done that part before.” Her air of nonchalance was frayed at the edges, lust colouring her words, “Praying again so soon, how impertinent. Whatever more could you want?”

Zelda drew deeply from her cigarette once more, the smoke mingling with her words in the air, “Mother of demons.”

The echo of Lilith’s footsteps began anew the sound startling Zelda as she realised she had been so entranced by the subtle flexions and extensions of the other woman’s fingers that she hadn't been prepared for the movement.

With a gentle incline of her head, Zelda began again, “I bow to your mercy. I am your sworn disciple; my will is yours.” Zelda’s pulse quickened at her words, a cold washing over her, and she regretted the phrasing instantly. It was something she'd said time and again to her lovers, sending a thrill through her every time, but now it prompted only fear.

She was soon pulled from her rumination however by a hand at her chin, tilting her head up until their eyes met. So much of Mary remained in those eyes and yet the knowledge that it was Lilith standing before her changed everything. Lilith’s thumb traced her jawline before brushing over her lips, parting her them as it was dragged over her bottom lip with firm insistence.

“My, my. How poetic.” She released Zelda from her grip, hand falling to her side, as her face contorted in faux-contemplation, “But isn’t it common to kneel in prayer?”

Breath hitching, Zelda dutifully lowered to her knees. There was a familiar solace in being devoutly pius, genuflecting before a deity truly worthy of worship, and she relished in it.

“Hail,” A hand wove into her hair from above, mussing its once perfect waves, “Lilith.” The tug at her hair forced a sharp inhale that halted her words. It didn’t seem to matter; if the darkening of Lilith’s eyes were anything to go by those two words alone were all she needed to speak.

Her years in the Church of Night had prepared Zelda to attend an insatiable god and she was glad that before her death she would finally have the honour of such servitude bestowed upon her.

Reaching to her right, she discarded what remained of her cigarette in an ashtray before tracing her fingers over the wrist of the hand in her hair.

“Favour me above all others; your most loyal subject.” The digits of her free hand toyed with her blouse buttons, deftly undoing them.

The fire’s embers had all but burnt out leaving only a glint of moonlight to cast a glow against her skin, its pallor a stark contrast to the dark satin beside it.

“Were you this willing to please the Dark Lord?” Lilith’s words were slow and drawn. She felt, as well as saw Zelda nod against her hand, “Pity he never listened; he would have liked that.”

Leveraging her grip in the witch’s hair, she pulled her to standing, delighting in the small whimper it caused. Her lips were at Zelda’s neck in an instant, breath dancing painfully against her pulse, as she pressed her against the wall at the fireplace’s side.

“You’ll forsake him tonight.” She left no room for question, magic pinning her wrists above her head as a hand raised the redhead’s skirts, exploring the expanse of the woman’s thigh before dragging her fingers roughly across the thin lace between her legs. Zelda started slightly at the invisible grip keeping her in place Lilith's ministrations soon distracted her once more, pulling a moan from her lips.

“ _Lilith_.” Zelda’s rapturous sign elicited a markedly different response than her than frenetic utterances of ‘Mary’ ever had; prompting the demon to bite down at the skin beneath her lips.

Lilith smirked, pulling her head back a touch. The bruise would colour beautifully.

“There’ll be no hiding that,” She nuzzled her lips against the mark, thrilling at Zelda’s resulting jolt, “The entire coven will know how wanton you are.” She pulled aside the fabric at her fingertips, ghosting a touch across the flesh beneath, “How willingly you gave yourself over. That you are mine. Your will is mine.” She echoed Zelda’s earlier statement with a groan.

The words rang in Zelda’s ears, all colour draining from her as she froze. Her breathing shallowed, eyes wide, before she pulled at the force holding her wrists, her lack of power hitting her again in a wave of terror. The spell was broken instantly, with a flick of Lilith's wrist as she drew back in confusion at the sudden change, granting Zelda space to retreat into the shadows creating a gulf between them.

Concern moulding her expression Lilith reached a hand forward for her cheek, prompting the other woman to jerk back once more until her calves were flush against the armchair. Lilith’s hand fell to her side.

“Zelda, I-” She stopped short at the slight shake of the woman’s head.

While her features were schooled into an indecipherable stare, tears brewed in Zelda’s eyes but she blinked them back before they could fall. Wordlessly, Lilith took the discarded cigarette from its place forgotten in the ashtray and proffered it across the expanse. It was accepted without thought, the familiar action of bringing it to her lips seemingly bringing Zelda some small comfort.

She still shook, whether from fear or the chill that seemed to have fallen over the room wasn’t certain. With slow, measured movements, Lilith crouched low in front of the fireplace, stoking the embers before adding a new log from the pile at its side, uttering a small incantation to light it.

A single word filled the room as the fire crackled to life; “Husbands.” The halfhearted attempt at levity Zelda employed fell flat when paired with the quiver in her voice.

Lilith had been aware of her marriage, of course she had, it was what had ended their trysts only months prior. She hadn’t questioned his absence now; hadn’t thought to. Hell had kept her occupied.

She straightened from her crouch at the fireside, turning to find Zelda, arm hugging her own waist, her back towards her.

“Better without them.” Lilith replied after a time. It seemed the only thing she could say without delving further. Neither wanted that; that wasn’t who they were or what this was.

Silence fell again, but for the crackling of the fire.

Zelda’s cigarette was at its end before she spoke again, “Ruined a perfectly good power dynamic.” She sounded more like herself this time, frustration plan in her tone.

Sitting heavily in her armchair, she removed the cigarette butt from the holder slotting another in its place. Lilith crossed the space between them, taking Zelda’s wrist in gentle fingers. Keeping her touch soft, she raised it slightly, muttering a quiet incantation to light the cigarette. She retreated slightly to sit on the arm of Hilda’s chair.

“That’s men for you.” Lilith assented. The whiskey sat between them. She took it, drinking deeply, “You create new dynamics.” Reaching forward, she smoothed Zelda’s hair where she had disturbed it earlier, “Better dynamics.”

“If only I had time.” Zelda mused grimly, the realities of her situation consuming her anew as she leant into Lilith’s caress.

The fire was out once more and Zelda asleep, against the chair's cushioning, before Lilith slipped back through the gates of Hell.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I'm planning on writing more for this pairing/fandom so all feedback is appreciated!


End file.
